The neurophysiology of referential processing

Petra Schumacher
Universität zu Köln, Institut für deutsche Sprache und Literatur I Sprachwissenschaft

The talk provides an overview of recent electrophysiological research on the time course of referential processing. Referential expressions are essential ingredients for information processing. Speakers use different referential forms but also prosodic or syntactic cues to convey different information structural functions. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we investigate the time course of reference processing and examine how comprehenders make use of multiple cues during the construction of a mental representation. The talk presents a series of ERP studies on the processing of information status that indicate that reference resolution is guided by two core mechanisms associated with referential accessibility and expectation (N400) on the one hand and mental model updating (Late Positivity) on the other hand.

If you would like to meet with the speaker, please contact Heiner Drenhaus.